RE: Skills for Library 2.0 Leaders

I agree wholeheartedly with Andrew's commenst. There are
many
technologies out there that can be deployed, but if you
don't know how
to turn patron needs into useful applications, it won't
matter.

I often hear staff saying "how can we use a wiki(or
RSS, or
podcasting)"...but this always seems backwards to me.
We should think
about how we can make our online services more useful, and
then from
there decide what technology would be best for that
purpose.

Lisa Pons-Haitz

> -----Original Message-----
> From: web4lib-bounceswebjunction.org 
> [mailto:web4lib-bounceswebjunction.org] On Behalf
Of Andrew Hankinson
> Sent: Monday, April 30, 2007 11:02 AM
> To: web4lib
> Subject: Re: [Web4lib] Skills for Library 2.0 Leaders
> 
> Maybe it's just personal bias, but the singlemost
important 
> technical skill I think a 'Web 2.0' person should have
is an 
> understanding of usability, user interface design, 
> information visualization and 'humane interfaces.'
> 
> Coding and technical skills are necessary, but
technologies 
> such as Ruby-on-Rails or Django are coming along that
lower 
> that barrier, making coding large, dynamic applications
easier.
> 
> Web 2.0, in my mind, is about removing the
technological 
> barriers of access to everyone participating on the
web, not 
> just the people who know 'the languages.'  (Languages
can 
> include HTML and CSS, but also unnatural constructs
such as 
> searching with Boolean operators.)
> 
> Until we make our catalogues, websites, databases and 
> resources a pleasure to use, it doesn't matter how 
> technically brilliant they are
> - people still won't use them.
> 
> Andrew
> 
> On 4/30/07, Greb, Jennifer <jgrebtulsalibrary.org> wrote:
> > Hi, All,
> >
> > I'm curious to know what you all (the experts)
think are essential 
> > skills for librarians who might be coordinating
"Library 2.0" 
> > technology in their libraries.  I think that the
ability to present 
> > trainings, build teams, make plans, etc, are
essential, but I'm 
> > especially interested in knowing about the
technical skills 
> needed.  
> > Does one just need to know how to use RSS, wikis,
blogs, and so on, 
> > and contract with vendors or others to make it
work with 
> the library 
> > website, or do you think such a staff person needs
to know 
> ColdFusion, 
> > PHP, and other very technical skills?
> >
> >
> >
> > On a secondary note, what job titles have you
heard of that would 
> > describe such a position?  I've heard Internet
Librarian, Virtual 
> > Branch Manager, and various others...
> >
> >
> >
> > Thanks so much!
> >
> >
> >
> > Jennifer
> >
> >
> >
> > Jennifer Greb, Coordinator
> >
> > Ruth G. Hardman Adult Literacy Service
> >
> > Tulsa City County Library
> >
> > 918.596.7958
> >
> > jgrebtulsalibrary.org
> >
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Web4lib mailing list
> > Web4libwebjunction.org
> > http://lists.we
bjunction.org/web4lib/
> >
> _______________________________________________
> Web4lib mailing list
> Web4libwebjunction.org
> http://lists.we
bjunction.org/web4lib/
> 
_______________________________________________
Web4lib mailing list
Web4libwebjunction.org
http://lists.we
bjunction.org/web4lib/